Tractor axle extension



Feb. 1s, 1936. A, RoNNlNG ET AL 2,031,333

TRACTOR AXLB EXTENSION Original Filed Oct. 29, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l i @Naw Feb. 18, 1936. VA. RNNING ET A1. 2,031,333

TRACTOR AXLE EXTENSION original Filed oct. 29, 1925 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Feb: 18,1936

u' UNITED 4STATES assists 'rnacron axm EXTENSION Adolph Bonning, Minneapolis, Minn., and Andrean G. Running, deceased, late of Minneapolis, Minn., by Adolph Running and Jacob A. Ronning, executors,v Minneapolis, Minn., asf signora to In onal Harvester Company,

a corporation of New Jersey Original application December 19, 1928, Serial No. 327,139, which in turn is a division of Serial No. 65,700, October 29, 1925. ADivided and this application January 11, 1932, Serial No. 585,858

Claims. v (Cl. ISU- 75) The present invention relates to farm tractors and particularly to means for changing the tread thereof.

The objects of the present invention are to pro- 5 vide a simple form of axle extension structure for the rear, differentially driven, axle shafts of standard tractors whereby the rear wheelsvmay be spaced farther apart than the standard tread, in order to straddle two plant rows, and incidentally to incorporate means in the extensions for braking either shaft, in order to provide for short turning of the converted wide tread tractor. 'Ihe foregoing and other objects are attained by the preferred embodiment of the invention hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in .f

the accompanying drawings. 'I'he present application is a division of our copending applical tion Serial No. 327,139 filled December 19, 1928, now Patent 1,883,405 of October 18, 1932, which is a division of our Patent No. 1,819,624 of August 18, 1931, filed October 29, 1925.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a converted tractor embodying the invention; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional elevation of the y end of the tractor with one end of the exded axleand part ofthe traction wheel shown, in section;'and, FigureSisadetaiviewasseenonlin-tof Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings by reference characters, A designates the body'casting or main frame of a common 'and well known type of tractor having rear axle and diiferential housings B,

rear drive wheels C, a drivers support D, fuel tank E and radiator F. A hand wheel G operates through suitable connections to oscillate a crank J (Figure 2) lwhich is normally connected with and arranged .to operate the usual steer- 4o ing wheels (not shown) which support the front end-of the tractor when the same-is used as a traction unit only. Inconverting the tractor into a ltractor-implement, we dispense with and removethe usual steering front axle and steering wheels and their connections with the crank J.

The front end of the tractor, from which the front axle etc. has been removed, is now supported by being suspended from and connected to a supplemental frame or substituted fore car- 60 riage, which, in the present instance, comprises l a pair of side bars 9 and i0, the rear ends of which are rigidly secured, as by U-bolt clamps il. to the rear axle housings B. The -bars converge slightly toward their forward ends where they are suitss-emy connected, by plate members lz. The rorward end of the supplementalI frame is supported by a caster-like wheel I3 having a fork I4 which is pivoted on a vertical pivot I5 in the frame, and the pivot center is inl advance of a vertical plane passing through the axis of the s wheel, so that when the fork is turned (on 'the pivot lli) it will not only angle the wheel to eilect steering, but will, previously thereto, iirst shift or swing the front end of the frame to the side to which the steering is directed, i. e., the frame lo will swing as far as the center i5 will swing from the spot on which the wheel i3 rests upon the ground. This swinging or shifting of the frame aifords a very convenient and sensitive means for quickly shifting the tools,- such as cultivator 15 gangs, transversely without waiting for the angled wheel to move the frame sidewise as the machine moves forward through the eld.

'I'he wheel i3' is steered from the rear of the machine by means of a rod IB, which is connected .20 at its front end toarack member i1, which meshes with a pinion I8 on the fork i4. The rear end of the rod i6 is pivotally and adjustably connected tothe short or lower arm i9 of 4a bent lever I9-20 carried on the crank J, which is supported in a g5 bearing on the tractor body. The ann 20, in turn, is connected by a link rod 2| to a lever bar 22, whichis pivoted, as at 23, to a transverse beam 24 secured -upon the rear ends of the side bars Y 9 and i0. Slotted castings 25, at the ends of the 30 beam 24, permit -a restricted oscillating movel'nent of the lever 22 on its pivot 23. The ends of the lever 22 are secured to the free ends of a pair of externally acting brake bands 26 and 2l,

theloth'er ends of which' are ladjustably secured g5' to the castings 25, as at 28 and 29. These bands 26 and 21 are arranged to frictlonally engage drums 30 and 3l, to stop or retard either of the wheels C, but can only act on one drum at a time,

due to the fact that the lever 22 is pivoted be- 40 tween its ends. a

Journaled in bearings 32 on the beams 9-i0 is a'transverse shaft I3, upon the left side of .which is nonrotatably secured a lever 34 having a pedal 35, said lever being connected by a link 36 tothe Vcrank J. The right end of the shaft I2 is provided with a pinion 2 1, which meshes with the gear segment 38 of a right foot lever 29 having'a pedal t0, the eifectofthis searing being to alternate or reverse the movementsof the levers u and 29, and the object vof the pedal arrangement is to enable the operator to use either his hands v or his feet (or both if necessary). to steer the machine `and guide the tools.

In thepresent instance we provide meanst' whereby the side members 9|0 may be secured to the tractor while it is still supported on the usual frontlaxle, and such means may be briefly described as follows:

A pair of brackets or castings 4| and 42 are secured, respectively, to the frame beams 9 and Il). These castings are preferably shaped so as to conform with the shape of the -lower side portions of the front end of the tractor, so as to snugly receive the same, and are connected by long bolts 43 which pass under or through the tractor, so as to tie the brackets rigidly together.

To show a practical application` of the various devices herein set forth, Figurey 1 illustrates how gangs of cultivator tools 44 may be attached to and adjustably carried by the supplemental frame. This mechanism, however, is purely i1- lustrative, and will not be described in detail, especially so as such mechanism and its association with the tractor features form the subjectmatter of Patent No. 1,819,624 above referred to. 1 Attention is now directed to the rear end construction of the tractor which has been modiiied to adapt the tractor more eiciently to the purpose of cultivating row grown crops such as corn, cane, etc. It might first be explained that such crops are usually planted in rows about fortytwo inches apart.l and that the distance between the centers of the traction wheels on most of the well known and widely used 'types of tractors is about fifty or :fifty-two inches. This traction wheel span is a very convenient one when the tractor is employed for ordinary traction purposes, and, when used in combination with a cultivator, this span is only suflicient to straddle one row of corn. In such a case, if a two row cultivator is employed, one set will necessarily have to be offset considerably to one side, which is objectionable for many reasons. Furthermore,

lf a caster wheel such as I3 were employed,it would also have to be offset or else it would travel over or very close to the center corn row,

which would also be objectionable, if not impractical. It may also be noted that when the tractor straddles onlyone row of corn, said corn would pass directly under the center of the engine and differential housing, which are the lowest parts of the tractor body, and are in fact so low as to practically prevent the eilicient cultivation of corn which has reached a substantial height.

To overcome these difficulties and give greater stability and rigidity to the machine, which is preferably provided with only one front or steering wheel, and also to render the steering by braking more eiiective,I we provide the tractor with an extended rear axle. With this construction, the span of the wheels is increased to the extent that they will` span or straddle two rows of cornand permit the :front wheel I3 to travel centrally between the two rows. It will then be seen that the cultivator beams can be equally distributed to both sides of the machine and that the plant rows will pass under the highest points of the rear axle housing and entirely escape contact with the rest of the tractor.

Figure 2 shows a common type of tractor conl struction which has been converted in accordance with this invention. In this case, the Vwheels C are the usual tractor wheels, and consist of rims 89, spokes 90, and a hub 9| having a tapered central hole and an annular ange 92. With each wheel reversed, i. e., turned about from the position illustrated, the hub 9| will t upon a tapered collar or hub extension 92 fixed on the end of the axle 93, where it may be drawn up and secured with bolts such as 94 to a'radial flange 92b on the hub extension 92. Such is the usual construction. In our converting process, we rst remove the wheel, and then substitute for it a spacing member 95 preferably including a brake drum 30 (or 3|), said spacing member having a flanged tapered sleeve portion 95a, which is drawn up and secured to the flange 92b by the bolts 94. The spacing member is also provided with a fixed stub shaft 96 forming, in effect, an aligned e-X- tension of the axle 93. On the stub shaft there is secured or keyed a tapered sleeve or hub piece 91, which is preferably identical in construction with the hub extension 92, so as to minimize manufacturing costs. The sleeve 91 is, of course, secured to and supports the wheel C in the same manner as described in connection with the hub extension 92, except that the traction wheel is reversed and has its hub secured' to the sleeve 91 by bolts 98. With .this construction the axle 93, hub extension 92, spacing member 95, spindle 96, and wheel 89 form a rigid assembly rotating as a unit.

What is claimed is:

l. In a tractor, a housing, an axle in the housing, a hub extension von the axle, a spacer, means for securing the spacer to the hub extension, a

2. In a tractor, an axle, a hub extension on the.

axle, a spacing member on the extension, means for securing the hub extension and spacing member together, a wheel-hub on the outer end of the spacing member,l means for securingv the wheel-hub to the spacing member, and means for non-rotatably securing the axle and the hub extension together whereby said parts, the spacing member and wheel-hub will rotate as a unit.

3. In a tractor, an axle, a hub extension on.

the axle having a radial flange, a spacing member mounted on the hub extension and having a radial flange adjacent the flange on the hub extension, means for securing said flanges together, a xed spindle extending from the spacing member in axial alignment with the axle, 'a radial flange xed on said spindle, and a wheel having a hub mounted on the spindle and secured to the flange thereon.

4. In a tractor, an axle, a hub extension on the axle, a spacing member secured to the hub'exf tension, a brake drum iixed on the spacing member, a xed spindle extending from the spacing member, a wheel having a hub mounted on the spindle, and means for securing the wheel-hub to the spindle.

5. In a. tractor, an axle, a hub extension on the axle, a spacing member secured to the hub ex- 

